* * *

Everything is hazy. I can make out a couple of forms, but mostly I feel the rocking—the rocking of a boat on the sea.

“She’s waking,” someone says.

“She heals faster than I thought. Hit her again.”

Blackness greets me once more.

* * *

Cold.

Everything is cold. I feel it at my cheek. Clinging to my fingers. Seeping in through my clothes.

My eyelids are heavy, but I manage to open them. They’re met with bars. Am I back in my cell?

No.

Beyond the bars is not the interior of a ship, but sand and trees. I hear the rolling of waves not far off, though I can’t see the shore.

I am alone.

The trees rustle in the wind. I shiver through the cold. Creatures slither and crawl on the ground, making their way through the undergrowth. The sounds of the night do not frighten me.

No, it is the cage that frightens me. I am without song. Without my lockpicks. Without any company at all.

For the first time in a long time, I am truly afraid.

* * *

It is morning before anyone approaches me.

I do not recognize the man. He’s tall, though not as tall as my father. Bald on top of his head, a brown beard on his chin. Five gold hoops hang from his left ear. His clothes are fine, yet roguish. He has a sword and pistol at his hips. Though I can’t imagine he has to use them often. He looks as though he’s built out of solid muscle, but I bet I could take him were I not locked up.

He pulls something out of his pocket, an orb of some sort. Ah, it’s the map. He tosses it up in the air and catches it lazily. A show for my benefit.

“Do you know who I am?” he asks. His voice sounds exactly as I would expect—deep and demanding.

“Am I supposed to care?” I ask indifferently, as though I’m not trapped. I’m proud of myself for my tone. It masks completely the coiling of nerves in my stomach.

“My name is Vordan Serad.”

I hide my surprise. I have been kidnapped by the third pirate lord, and this time my capture is not planned.

At least not by me.

I try for faked confidence. “Do you know who I am?” I ask in return, matching Vordan’s air of authority.

“You are Alosa Kalligan, daughter of Byrronic Kalligan, the pirate king.”

“Excellent. Then you already know how foolish you’re being for keeping me like this.”

“Foolish? Not at all. Your father thinks that young Allemos captain has you, so he will not be coming after me. I have it on good authority that you have been depleted of the power the sea gives you, so you cannot save yourself. I would say it is you who are being foolish by not being afraid.”

My stomach sinks through the ground as my mouth dries. “And whose authority would that be?”

“Mine,” says a voice from behind me. Several men break through the trees. Riden is among them, but he is not the one who spoke. No, Riden has two pistols pointed at him. They’re forcing him to walk in my direction. Why isn’t he locked up like I am? Running low on enormous cages, are we?

My mind empties as soon as I lay eyes on who spoke, the fourth man who enters the clearing.

It’s Theris.

He slouches against one of the trees and pulls out his coin, turning it over his fingers.

I shake my head at him. “Betraying my father? That will be the last mistake you ever make. Do you know what happened to the last man who fed information to his enemies? My father tied him up by his ankles and sawed him down the middle.”

Theris is unaffected by my words. “Fortunately for me, I’m not betraying him.”

He doesn’t need for me to say so to know I’m confused.

“I was never your father’s man,” he continues.

It takes me longer than it should to interpret his words. But the symbol—he knew my father’s mark. He clearly identified himself as serving the Kalligan line.

“My reach is deep.” Vordan explains this time, returning the glass-encased map to his pocket. “Kalligan is foolish. He thinks himself untouchable. He doesn’t realize that those closest to him are so ready to give him up. And, more importantly, give you up.”

I turn on Theris. “You weren’t on the ship to help me.”

“No,” he answers. “I was sent to watch you.”

“Then who is my father’s man aboard the Night Farer?” I say more to myself.

Theris answers. “That was poor Gastol. I’m afraid you slit his throat when Draxen took control over your ship.”

What were the odds that one of the two men I killed was my father’s man? The guilt hits me, even though I know it’s not entirely my fault. My father should have had the foresight to tell me who his informant was aboard the Night Farer before I faked my capture. Then Gastol wouldn’t have died, and Theris wouldn’t have been able to fool me. Father doesn’t take these minor details into consideration. What does he care if one of his men dies by accident? There is always someone to take his place. But in this instance his folly might cost him Draxen’s map.

And maybe me.

Then again, maybe I should have realized that Father never would have asked his informant to help me. He knows I do not need to be looked after. I should have known Theris was faking from the beginning. Furious with myself, I return back to the conversation at hand.

“Why did you have Theris watching me?” I ask Vordan. “What could you possibly want with me?”

“You don’t realize your own value,” Vordan says. “Do you think Kalligan keeps you around because you’re his daughter? No, Alosa. It is because of the powers you possess. He uses you for his own gain. You are nothing more than a tool to him. I’ve heard all about Kalligan’s punishments, his training, his testing. I know all the horrible things he’s put you through. And I am here to liberate you.”

For a moment I wonder how he could possibly know so much about me. Then I realize that if he has someone high up in my father’s ranks working for him, he would know … well, just about everything.

I say, “Putting me in a cage was probably not the best way to show how much you want to liberate me.”

“Apologies. This is merely a safety precaution for me and my men while I explain things.”

“You’ve explained. Now let me out.”

Vordan shakes his bald head. “I have not finished.”